Senegal (19/20) – Guinea (19/5)

January 2022

• Senegal and Guinea are meeting for the third time at the Africa Cup of Nations, with Senegal winning their first two encounters: 2-1 in the 1994 group stages and 3-2 in the quarter-finals of the 2006 tournament. In both matches, Guinea opened the scoring before eventually finishing as the losing side.
• Senegal have won five of their last seven group stage games in the Africa Cup of Nations (D1 L1), keeping clean sheets in all five victories.
• Guinea will be looking to win their opening two matches at a single edition of the Africa Cup of Nations for just the second time, last doing so in 2006.
• Sadio Mané has been directly involved in five of Senegal’s last six goals in the Africa Cup of Nations (four goals, one assist). Indeed, since his debut in the competition in January 2015, Mané has been directly involved in more goals at the Africa Cup of Nations than any other Senegal player (six goals, one assist).
• Guinea head-coach Kaba Diawara scored two goals in the Africa Cup of Nations as a player – one of these came the last time Guinea and Senegal met in the tournament, in the quarter-finals of the 2006 edition.

Malawi (29/10) – Zimbabwe (27/20)

January 2022

• This will be the first encounter between Malawi and Zimbabwe at the Africa Cup of Nations.
• Malawi have won just one of their seven matches at the Africa Cup of Nations (D1 L5), failing to score in four of those games.
• Zimbabwe are winless in their last seven Africa Cup of Nations matches (D2 L5), last gaining a victory in the competition in 2006, against Ghana (2-1).
• No team has played more games in the Africa Cup of Nations without ever keeping a clean sheet than Zimbabwe (P13 W2 D2 L9), conceding 28 goals in total (2.2 per game).
• Kudakwashe Mahachi and captain; Knowledge Musona are the only two players in the Zimbabwe squad to have scored at AFCON, either could become just the second player to score more than once in the tournament for The Warriors after Peter Ndlovu, who netted three times in 2004.

Morocco (11/50) – Comoros (20/1)

14 January 2022

 

• This will be the first encounter between Morocco and the Comoros at the Africa Cup of Nations.
• After their 1-0 victory against Ghana, Morocco are looking to win their opening two matches at an Africa Cup of Nations in consecutive editions of the tournament (also 2019), having only won both such games in one of their previous 16 appearances in the competition (in 2004).
• Morocco have won their last six group stage games at the Africa Cup of Nations, winning each of the last five by a 1-0 scoreline.
• Comoros could become the sixth debutants this century to lose their opening two matches at the Africa Cup of Nations, after Benin (2004), Botswana (2012), Burundi (2019), Niger (2012) and Zimbabwe (2004).
• After his 83^rd minute winner against Ghana, Soufiane Boufal could become the first Moroccan player to score in consecutive Africa Cup of Nations matches since Houssine Kharja in 2012 (three goals in total).

Gabon (18/5) – Ghana (Evens)

14 January 2022

• This will be the first encounter between Gabon and Ghana at the Africa Cup of Nations.
• Gabon are looking to win consecutive Africa Cup of Nations games for the first time since a run of three in January 2012.
• Ghana have won just one of their last five group stage games at the Africa Cup of Nations (D2 L2), losing more in this run (2) than in their previous 12 such matches combined (W9 D2 L1).
• After their 1-0 victory against Comoros, Gabon could keep clean sheets in their opening two matches at a single edition of the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time since 2010 (W1 D1).
• After scoring a 16^th minute winner in his first ever Africa Cup of Nations match against Comoros, Aaron Boupendza is looking to become the third Gabon player to score more than once in a single edition of the competition, after Brice Mackaya in 1996 (2) and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (3 in 2012 and 2 in 2017).

Nigeria (1/5) – Sudan (20/1)

January 2022

• Nigeria and Sudan are meeting for the third time at the Africa Cup of Nations, but it’s their first encounter at the tournament for 46 years. Sudan won the first match 4-0 in the 1963 group phase whilst Nigeria won the second 1-0 in 1976.
• Nigeria have won 10 of their last 12 Africa Cup of Nations games (L2), keeping six clean sheets.
• Following a draw in their opening match against Guinea-Bissau (0-0), Sudan have managed just one win in their last 14 Africa Cup of Nations games (D6 L7), dating back to the 1972 edition.
• Nigeria won their opening game (1-0 against Egypt) to an Africa Cup of Nations for the second tournament running, having failed to win their first match in four of their previous five appearances (W1 D1 L3). The Super Eagles are looking to win their opening two matches to an Africa Cup of Nations in consecutive tournaments for the very first time.
• After scoring in his very first Africa Cup of Nations game, Kelechi Iheanacho could become the first Nigerian player to score in his first two AFCON appearances since Emmanuel Emenike in January 2013.

Guinea-Bissau (8/1) – Egypt (21/50)

15 January 2022

• This will be the first encounter between Guinea-Bissau and Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations.
• Guinea-Bissau remain winless in their seven matches at the Africa Cup of Nations (D3 L4) and could become the seventh side not to win any of their first eight matches in the competition, after Angola, Benin, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia and Uganda.
• Egypt have lost two consecutive Africa Cup of Nations games for the first time since 2002. In fact, they’ve lost three of their last six in the competition, more than in their previous 29 combined (W21 D6 L2).
• Guinea-Bissau have failed to score in five consecutive Africa Cup of Nations games, the only side to ever go six games without scoring in the competition is Kenya, in 1990.
• Having lost their opening match against Nigeria (1-0), Egypt will look to avoid losing their first two matches of an Africa Cup of Nations for the first time since 1992 (lost all three group stage games).

Côte d'Ivoire (7/25) – Sierra Leone (12/1)

15 January 2022

• Côte d'Ivoire and Sierra Leone’s only previous encounter in the Africa Cup of Nations took place in the group phase of the 1994 tournament – The Elephants won 4-0. That game also saw a hat-trick by Joël Tiéhi, the last instance of a Côte d’Ivoire player scoring 3+ goals in a match at the Africa Cup of Nations.
• Côte d'Ivoire have won their opening game in four of their last six Africa Cup of Nations (L1), they are looking to win their first two group games in a single edition for the first time since 2013.
• Following their 0-0 draw with Algeria in their first match, Sierra Leone have now failed to score in five of their six Africa Cup of Nations games (W1 D2 L3), only doing so against Burkina Faso in 1996 (2-1).
• Côte d'Ivoire are looking to win three consecutive group stage games in the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time since a run of six between January 2010 and January 2013.
• Max-Alain Gradel has scored 50% (2/4) of his goals for Côte d'Ivoire in the Africa Cup of Nations in his last three appearances, with his other two coming across his previous 18 games in the competition. He’s looking to score in consecutive AFCON matches for the first times since January 2015.

Algeria (7/25) – Equatorial Guinea (23/2)

16 January 2022

• This will be the first encounter between Algeria and Equatorial Guinea at the Africa Cup of Nations.
• Algeria are unbeaten in nine Africa Cup of Nations matches (W6 D3), since a 2-1 defeat against Tunisia in January 2017.
• Equatorial Guinea have only won one of their last five Africa Cup of Nations group-stage games (D2 L2), having previously won their very first two matches in the competition in 2012.
• Algeria have kept six clean sheets in their last eight AFCON matches (W6 D2, conceded two), as many shutouts as they managed in their previous 36 games in the competition, stretching back to the start of the 1992 edition.
• Youcef Belaili hase created 18 chances for his team-mates at the Africa Cup of Nations, double that of any other Algerian player since his debut in January 2019.

Gambia (21/4) – Mali (3/4)

16 January 2022

• This will be the first encounter between Gambia and Mali at the Africa Cup of Nations.
• After their 1-0 victory against Mauritania, Gambia are looking to become the first debutants to win their first two matches at the Africa Cup of Nations since Equatorial Guinea in 2012.
• Mali have won three of their last five matches at the Africa Cup of Nations (D1 L1), as many victories as in their previous 15 in the competition (D8 L4).
• Mali are looking to win their opening two games of an Africa Cup of Nations for the first time since 2004, when they went on to finish fourth.
• Since 2010, Mali have scored 21 of their 31 Africa Cup of Nations goals (68%) in the second half of games, coming into the second round of matches, only Côte d'Ivoire (25) have scored more in this time.

Tunisia (7/25) – Mauritania (13/1)

16 January 2022

• Tunisia and Mauritania’s only previous encounter in the Africa Cup of Nations produced a goalless draw – it was in the group phase of the 2019 tournament.
• Tunisia have lost three consecutive matches at the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time since March 1994, they’ve never lost four in a row in their history in the competition.
• Mauritania are still searching for their first ever win at the Africa Cup of Nations, failing to do so in their four matches to date (D2 L2), while they haven’t scored a single goal in their last three games in the competition.
• Tunisia are winless in their last four group stage games at the Africa Cup of Nations (D3 L1), their longest such run without a victory since January 1996 (eight games, D4 L4).
• Tunisia have missed their last two penalties taken in the Africa Cup of Nations, coming into the second round of matches only Ghana (10) have taken more in the competition since 2010 than the Eagles of Carthage (7), while no team has failed to score more than Tunisia in this time (3, level with Senegal).